Tag: art and mental illness
Art-Making as an Alternative Philosophy of Care During Emotional Crisis
From National Empowerment Center: MIA Arts Editor Karin Jervert gives a talk on the role of creativity in the healing process as part of the "Compassionate Approaches to Crisis" webinar series.
Art, Music, Exercise, and More: What Are the Recommended Doses for...
Researchers have calculated the dose-response benefits of ordinary hobbies, habits, and lifestyle practices that are available without any trip to a doctor or a drug store.
A Review of “Mud Flower: Surviving Schizophrenia and Suicide Through Art”
In "Mud Flower," Meghan Caughey seeks an ethics centered on the valuation of madnessâand on art as one communicative pathway for valuesâfor the muddy waters discarded by society.
Assault and Exploitation: My Peer Worker Experience
The intensity of demand faced in the acute ward is exhausting. No one has a clue what Iâm supposed to be doing, least of all me.
Sound After Psychiatry
In the wake of psychiatry, there was a fracture, a gulf that opened between me and the authentic sound of my voice when it is connected and resonates with my truth.
Creativity and COVID: Art-Making During the Pandemic
The pandemic lockdown last year afforded me a precious gift of time to explore my creative spirit, and that, in turn, gave me a powerful way to cope.
The Lessons of Music: Nurturing Mental Health in Cultures Around the...
Music is an ancient and omnipresent tool for wellness, a carrier of peace for individuals, and a bonding agent for communities throughout history and the world.
Music Aids Mental Health: Science Shows Why
What can science tell us about musicâs impact on our cognition and on our mood, on our capacity for empathy, and our sense of connection with others? How does it change the brain? How does it change us?
Making Music, Healing Souls
The healing power of communal singing is at the heart of two organizations in England and Ireland: Sing Your Heart Out and 49 North Street.
The Mirror Repeats: The Art of Phoebe Sparrow Wagner
It is uncomfortably difficult to look at Phoebe Sparrow Wagnerâs art. That much is intentional. She shakes up the viewerâs sense of wellbeing and security so that they can better identify with the plight of the mental patient.
Ancient Singing Tradition Helps People Cope With Trauma in the Modern...
From YES! Magazine: "Lament [singing] is a very old, traditional way to express your feelings...If you are hurt or you have sorrows...you cry it out, you let it come out. Thatâs what they would do in the old times."
The Light in the Dark
Darkness began to consume my life, both literally and metaphorically. My surroundings and even my own thoughts would become distorted into something terrifying. As the nights droned on, shadows in my dorm room would contort themselves into threatening figures. The whispers continued to grow, overcoming the thoughts in my head.
Young People Are Using Musical Theater to Heal Their Trauma
From NationSwell: Chicago's Storycatchers Theatre helps justice-involved youth find their voices and resolve old traumas by making them the stars of the show.
The Bipolar Artist: A Lifelong Sentence to Bear
I was told that I had only two choices: Do not have children, or take lithium while I was pregnantâthe drug that posed the least amount of birth defects, and the very medication that had killed the painter in me years ago. I refused both options and set out on my own, and luckily found a willing psychiatrist to help me taper off the meds.
David Foster Wallace: Suicide and the Death of Agency
Today is the 10th anniversary of David Foster Wallaceâs suicide. While itâs not fair to build an entire theory on an incredibly complicated issue like suicide around one person, Wallaceâs death should challenge the common narratives around suicide â that âmental illnessâ causes it and that âwe canât ever know why people do it.â Both of these are self-serving platitudes that are simply not true.
Hopeless But Not Broken: From George Carlin to Protest Music
From CounterPunch: Although people are often pathologized and shamed for feeling hopeless, hopelessness is sometimes a natural reaction to an oppressive political climate. George Carlin...
The Enduring Myth of the Mad Genius
From Wellcome Collection: It has long been assumed that great writers and artists must be touched by madness. However, no link between artistic talent and...
Art and Images in Psychiatry
Between 2002 and 2014, JAMA Psychiatry published monthly essays by Dr. James C. Harris exploring the role of visual arts in representing emotional distress, trauma, life...
The Art of Madness
In this piece for The Paris Review, Cody Delistraty details the French painter Jean Dubuffet's efforts to collect artwork made by people deemed mentally ill...
Study Finds Heavy Metal Music Beneficial to Mental Health
A new study highlights the role heavy metal music plays in the mental health of adolescents facing adversity.
New Traction for Art Therapy as a Treatment for Depression
New study investigates the acceptability of a phenomenologically informed, manual-based art therapy for clients diagnosed with moderate to severe depression.
Arts Participation May Improve Mental Well-Being and Social Inclusion
Introductory arts courses at Open Arts Essex show improvements in mental well-being and social inclusion for individuals with mental health challenges.
âBenzo Blueâ: a Song of Protest and a Search for Liberation
In commemoration of World Benzodiazepine Awareness Day coming on July 11th, I am providing an early first time debut at Mad in America of a new song and music video titled âBenzo Blue,â along with a brief commentary on the evolution and significance of this song.
Healing from Psychiatry: A Community Art Book
I began reaching out to other psychiatric survivors, asking whether they would like to have their art featured in a book, and the response I received was amazing. People openly shared not only their art but their personal stories, their feelings, and their painful journeys into, through, and out of psychiatry.
Music Therapy Interventions Reduce Depression Symptoms in Dementia
Therapists can use music to meet the emotional and social needs of individuals with dementia.